“You’re high.” The curvy Dominicana smirked at Sunny. “Or the warm weather’s been getting to you.”

“You’re gonna piss yourself when I show you,” Sunny shrugged, “so don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Sunny turned around and looked at the door of the shop. “No one in here right now?”

“Uh-uh,” Elise shook her head. “I told you I was bored.”

“Is there a way you can like...lock up for 10 minutes?” Elise shrugged, pulling out a dry erase clock sign from behind the counter and writing in the hands.

“If you’re serious, you got 20. Verdad?” Sunny smiled, pulling something from her purse as Elise strolled toward the door, opening it and looking out at the strip mall sidewalk and the parking lot to make sure no one seemed to be on their way. “Slow friggin’ days,” Elise muttered, popping herself back in and closing it, sticking the sign to the door. “Should I drop this down?” She turned and asked Sunny.  

“Oh yeah,” Sunny nodded. “You’re gonna want some space to see this work.” Sunny looked down at her own boots--knowing that the pair of gloves she put on the counter was just the beginning. “Now, I wanna skip the shit and convince you this is real from the first go--so those gloves on the counter...I want you to tell them to do something. Aloud.”

Elise just sneered.

“Okay, chica. Gimme your phone.” Elise held out her hand, and Sunny shrugged and handed it over.

“Why’s that?”

“So I know this isn’t some stupid ‘challenge’ video or something.” Elise put it on the counter and looked at the gloves. “You’re really serious about this.” She picked up one of the gloves to investigate, looking inside the cuff and then pulling it on. She waved her ungloved hand around it, then pulled it back off, dangling it by the cuff. They were a pair of elbow-length black elastane gloves with a shiny satin finish--the same type someone could buy here at the shop. “So what am I supposed to do, ask them to clap or something?”

Sunny just smirked. Her gaze never left Elise’s when she silently passed on the command. Elise jumped back when the glove pulled itself from her grip, and looked back at Sunny to see her growing smile before staring back down at the counter, where the two black gloves seemed to be inflating--filling with empty space in the same shape and joint arrangement as human hands.

“That’s…” Elise watched as the forms filled, rising off of the counter and facing her. She took a step back as they clapped together, once--and then three times. She walked toward Sunny in a wide arc, taking the girl’s smug reaction as a sign that her trick went exactly as expected. “Alright, alright--I see it. I still don’t know how I’m supposed to believe I’m seeing it. How the hell did you make them do that?”

“Tell them to do something else,” Sunny said. “Don’t make it easy. Go nuts.”

“Okay..have them give me your phone,” Elise said. “And talk--Sunny--how are you making this happen?” Sunny shook her head.

“Nah, that’s way too easy,” Sunny shrugged, motioning to her phone itself. The device picked itself up off the counter and hovered over to Elise...suspending itself in front of her. “Seriously, pick something more complicated. Indulge.” Elise just stared at the phone in front of her, poking at it gingerly.

“Es imposible...Sunny, are you going to tell me how you’re doing this?” She grabbed onto the phone, plucking it from the air and scrutinizing Sunny’s case. When she finally looked back at Sunny, the Raven-haired girl winked at her.

“It’s a secret--for now,” Sunny said, holding out her hand. The phone pulled itself out of Elise’s grip and flaw back to Sunny’s palm. “In the meantime, tell those gloves to do something complicated.”

“Okay, okay…” Elise took a deep breath, looking around. “Let’s see them grab me the stocking mannequin off of the high shelf over there and bring it here,” She said. “I could stand to change up the display.” Sunny shrugged, motioning to the gloves with no more than a nod.

Both women watched as they sailed to the back of the store, gripping the clear lower-half form from a shelf against the wall and effortlessly carrying it back through the store.

“They’re just gloves,” Elise said, trying to grasp what was happening. “I felt them. There wasn’t anything special about them. How does something so light carry something like that?”

“Magic,” Sunny said. She wiggled her fingers, and the gloves put the form down in front of Elise and sailed over to her hands, cuffs first. Elise watched in awe as they slid themselves on over Sunny’s wrists and forearms, fitting themselves as Sunny’s phone hovered down to the counter once more. Elise stared her down.

 “It’s...gotta be some kind of weird tech-toy, right?” Sunny shook her head. She could tell even Elise didn’t believe her own words. “I mean I’m not an engineer or anything, but…”

“You know I’m not fucking with you, Elise. You said it yourself--they’re just gloves.” Sunny took a deep breath and put her plums down at her sides, closing her eyes. “Now, for the finale…” Sunny spread her fingers. Slowly, her fingers tensed, and her boots began rising off of the ground, only a few inches.

“Madre mia…” Elisa took two steps back now, making the sign of the cross as she watched her friend hover off of the ground. “Sunshine, I’m not the devout type--I mean, I work here--but puh-lease don’t tell me you made a deal with someone...or something.”

Sunny’s eyes popped open, and she shook her head.

“No! No way, Elise. Nothing like that.” She let herself settle back to the ground once more, seeing she’d pushed the limit. “No pacts, no entities...but there’s this thing I wore. Just for a few minutes...and once you wear it...you can do things. Things like that.” Elise leaned back against the counter.

“Well, thank goodness for that,” Elise said. “Sunny--you LIFTED YOURSELF OFF THE GROUND!” She started laughing, approaching Sunny again and playfully slapping at her. “What the hell is going on in the world? You can just...control this with your thoughts?”

Sunny nodded at her, smiling.

“So, make my dustmop sweep up the store or something. I wanna see more.”

“I can’t do that,” Sunny said. She held up her hands as the gloves peeled themselves off again, hovering in the air once more. “I can make the gloves do it, but I can’t really control anything until after I do it while I’m wearing the necklace.”

“It’s...a necklace,” Elise said. “I know I saw what I saw, but...I still can’t believe it. Do you have it with you?” Sunny shook her head.

“It’s actually not my necklace,” Sunny admitted. “Someone just kinda shared it with me...and actually swore me to secrecy.”

“Which you blew immediately,” Elise chuckled. Sunny threw her hands up.

“Well?! Look at them!” She gestured to the floating gloves. “I don’t even need to like, think about it or anything, you know? They just do as they’re told...with thought alone. I had to tell someone.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m honored,” Elise said, staring at the satiny forearms. “They’re safe to touch, right?”

“Safe as I want them to be,” Sunny said. One of the gloves swooped behind Elise and swatted at her black leggings, making her jump.

“Ay! That’s not fair at all!” Elise exclaimed, grabbing the cuff of the glove behind her. She tried to pull it back in front of her, but it shifted around her grip, grabbing her wrist instead. “Sunny…” She giggled, grabbing the satin wrist with her remaining hand and trying to pull it off of her. “God, these things are strong for just being gloves.” She tried to squeeze the tube, but it wouldn’t compress. There was nothing inside, but it felt as rigid as a human arm would be.

“Strong as the material,” Sunny said. “Cool, right?” Her eyebrows went up, and as Elise was busy with the glove gripping her, its mate swooped around her other side and lifted her breast from underneath, making her gasp.

“Sunny!” She shouted. Sunny put her hands up, and the gloves both relented, pulling away.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t have anyone to play with before,” Sunny giggled.

“So that’s why you told me,” Elise said, “You couldn’t mess with the person you borrowed the necklace from, huh?” Elise’s eyes lit up. “Speaking of that, though…” Her crimson lips curled into a wide grin. “Could you imagine what a dominatrix could do with this sort of thing?” Elise licked her lips, shaking her head. “We’re talking total mind fuck!”

“Kinda why you were the first person I thought of,” Sunny sneered. “I’d love to see you in action with a power like this.”

“I mean...I’m volunteering if you’re offering,” Elise said. “I don’t even need that much power, actually. I wouldn’t mind just borrowing your magic friends there,” She motioned to the gloves.

“We...might be able to make that happen down the line,” Sunny said. “I have a feeling I was included on this situation for a reason. It’s only a matter of time before it’s not a super-tight secret, you know?”

“Thanks to you,” Elise laughed. “How long did it take before you cracked? A couple hours?” Sunny shot her a side-eye and sicced the gloves on her again, this time sending them to her sides to tickle her.

“No, noooo!” Elise was sent into a giggling fit as the satiny fingers dusted the sides of her t-shirt, prompting her to try and grab the wrists and pull them away again. “Come on, you know I’m totally defenseless!” Sunny waved them off, and Elise bit her lip as she caught her breath. “Whew...that’s--a little terrifying, if not totally exhilarating,” Elise said. “If you didn’t make them let up, I dunno if I could physically get away from them.”

“I know,” Sunny said. “I think it’s kind of freaking my friend out that she has this thing. That might be why she let me in on it.” Sunny snapped her fingers, and the gloves collapsed onto the counter again. “Like--maybe there are others out there who knew about this before she did, and she wants to hedge her bets in case they try to get the thing back. It just seems...way too useful--way too powerful to just let something like that go, you know?” After spending the afternoon playing with this power, Sunny realized that Elise was right--power at this level was a little terrifying. What if someone was planning to do more than just play around with it?

 “So...when do you talk to your friend again?” Elise asked, picking up one of the limp gloves and letting it drop again.

“Tonight, maybe,” Sunny said. She thought about Elise’s other request. “You know, I’m curious about something, though.” Sunny issued a new mental command to the gloves: Do whatever Elise wants you to do.

“What’s that?” Elise asked.

“The gloves.” Sunny said. “You asked to borrow them, right?” Elise nodded vigorously.

“For real? You can do that?” Elise asked.

“Let’s find out,” Sunny said. “Ask them to do something.”

“Goose her ass under that little plaid skirt and get her back for messing with me!” Elise exclaimed. The limp gloves jumped to life again, filling and darting behind Sunny. She gasped as her pantyhose-covered ass was pinched between two satin digits, and as soon as she moved to smooth her skirt down behind her, the gloves began tickling her sides.

“Oh, shit!” Sunny said, laughing. “Okay, okay--you got me back!” A shock of excitement went through her as the gloves relented. Having control over these things was one thing--but having them set on you...Sunny felt her cheeks flushing. “Well, I guess that worked,” Sunny said, raising an eyebrow. The command was specific--do whatever Elise wants them to, not tells them to. If that was the case, then-- “Okay--let’s try something else. This time--think about something you want them to do.”

Elise stared at the gloves, and they lifted up and spun around behind her. The satiny fingers began massaging her shoulders, and she let out a pleased hum.

“Ohhhh, Sunny...please, please tell me you’re not just teasing about leaving these with me,” Elise said, smiling as she shifted herself to stand square, allowing her to relax her shoulders. Sunny’s eyes lit up.

“Keep em!” Sunny said. “In fact...I kinda have an idea. Are we the same shoe size?” 

“Nine,” Elise said. “Why?” Sunny shook her head.

“Never mind. These are eights. I could’ve let you borrow the whole outfit to play around with, but--”

“Espera, espera--you have control over that entire outfit?!” Elise asked.

“Well, yeah…” Sunny said, commanding herself up again--this time without using the gloves. “That’s how I did this.” When she settled back to the ground again, Elise was dizzying herself with the possibilities. Elise tapped her fingernails on the counter.

“Well, even if the boots don’t fit me...I wouldn’t really need to wear them to play around with them, right?” Elise snickered. “You can borrow whatever you want from the store...you can always bring it all back to me...except for panties, of course.”

“I’m not letting you keep my panties,” Sunny laughed. “And if I do this--you can’t be a show off, okay? You’ve gotta keep it under wraps from absolutely everyone until I work out more about this necklace.” Elise put her hand up.

“I swear to keep this secret way better than Sunny did,” Elise said, mocking her. Sunny pulled her shirt off and threw it at Elise.

“Enough already,” Sunny sneered, unlacing her boots and heading back toward the clubwear. “If I find something I like, I might just buy it so I don’t have to bring things back.” She kicked off her boots. “Get a hang for playing with this stuff real quick...they should listen to you like the gloves. I’m sure our 20 minutes have to be more than halfway up.”

Elise watched Sunny browse through her display racks as she looked down at the discarded boots.

“Lace up and walk to me, my pretties,” Elise said softly, watching as the tall boots stood themselves up.

 

* * *

 

Claire and Alison watched as Cassie took to the powers of the necklace. Having two people who already knew the basics, Cassie’s initial exercises were less guessing and considering, and more diving headlong into what the necklace could really do. She already had three of her own pairs of jeans animated, at rest and hanging around the room; a frisbee disc spinning in place, perpetually in motion and hanging over the living room like a plastic UFO; and finally, a ring of her own makeup goodies, hovering in a ring around the frisbee.

It blew Cassie’s mind that she could just set things into motion and leave them there. Claire had explained the basics--that she could still control the things she manipulated with the necklace after she took the necklace off, and that intention seemed to be the key to the process.

What she hadn’t said yet--and wasn’t sure how to properly pass on the caution--was Alison’s little discovery from the night before.

“Okay, here I go,” Cassie said, sitting cross-legged on a furniture cushion placed on the ground. Her fingers dug into the sides as she mentally issued her command, and a second later, her body weight was tipped slightly forward as the cushion began lifting itself off the ground. She tried to compensate by balancing to the rear, and as it rose into the air, Cassie was swaying slowly back and forth.

“Use the necklace,” Alison offered. “If you just told the cushion to rise into the air--tell it to balance you too.” Cassie pointed at Alison and nodded, thinking the command. Her swaying stopped, and Cassie relaxed her trunk, no longer needing to try so hard to stay in the center of the floating cushion.

“Holy crap, that’s awesome...thanks, Al!” Cassie said, leaning back with purpose now. Claire gasped, nearly leaping off the sofa when it looked like her baby sister was going to tip off backward, but the cushion corrected for Cassie’s shift, obeying her command despite her actively shifting her center of gravity to test it. “That really worked.”

“They just listen,” Alison grinned. “They’re as intelligent as your intention is--you just have to remember to be specific.”

“Yeah, but let’s...not attempt to injure ourselves in the course of trying this stuff out, okay?”

“Ok mom,” Alison and Cassie both said to Claire, nearly simultaneously. Both of them chuckled afterward. Claire rolled her eyes.

“Listen, I’m not trying to be a buzzkill,” Claire said. “It’s just--”

“No, you’re right,” Cassie said. “I’m sorry, Claire. You’re right. It’s just--really exciting. Like, mind-blowing. I planned on coming home and sulking in my room for the next week...and now I’m like...like a superhero in the front half of a training montage,” Cassie said. She dangled her over the side of the cushion and sailed toward Claire on the couch. “This is...totally crazy.”

Claire nodded, looking up at her.

“And that’s why you get that we can’t show this to people, right?” Claire asked her. Cassie nodded, putting her hands up.

“For sure, for sure!” Cassie said. “I know the whole mythos about this stuff. One big public incident and you have the bad guys on you. Like...the ones with bad suits and dark sunglasses,” Cassie laughed. She hovered right out the double-wide doorway and into the kitchen.

“Not just public,” Claire called after her. “No social media, no selfies--nothing, Cassie. This secret doesn’t leave this circle of three people.” Alison looked down, swallowing hard.

“I get it, sis!” Cassie stared at the fridge, which opened itself. A soda hovered out and popped its tab, floating into her hand. She hovered back toward the living room, kicking her legs as she sailed back into the room, guzzling her magically-acquired drink. “But where did this come from? Why you?”

“That’s...the other part,” Claire said, tapping her fingers on the arm of the couch. “Like I said--this is amazing, and I totally don’t want to kill the mood for anyone, but we have to be on the lookout for anything out of place. Anything.” She looked at Alison, spaced out and looking down at the floor in front of her. “Especially you and I--at work,” Claire added. Alison snapped out of her thoughts.

“Right, that makes sense,” Alison responded. “That’s where it got sent, after all.” Claire played with her phone, making it spin in the air as she continued.

“At the same time--I want us to get good at this,” Claire said. “If there’s other people out there who know about this thing--if there’s other things like it that...I dunno...bestow superhuman abilities on people--god, I can’t believe I’m saying this…” Claire chuckled nervously. “I mean, we need to be ready for that.”

Cassie leapt off her cushion, directing it back to the couch as she sat next to her sister, letting her soda can hover onto a coaster on the coffee table.

“You guys can, like...go back to my room,” She said, waving at her jeans. The three pairs walked, marching toward the basement stairs. “Everything,” Cassie said, nodding at the frisbee and the flying makeup. The items followed behind the animated jeans, bobbing in a line as the spinning disc took up the rear.

“Not changing the subject here, but...thanks, Claire.” Cassie said, hugging her sister.

“Well, we couldn’t just keep it a secret with you here in the house,” Claire said. “Seems like more of a risk for you not to know about it, all things considered.” She hugged her sister back.

“No, no--I mean...school and all. I’m sorry. I fucked up, and you were right about what you said,” Cassie shrugged, holding up the jewel. “I’m not gonna lie, though, I don’t feel quite so bad about forfeiting the semester now.”  Claire smacked her playfully. “But you’re also right about this thing...and--hey, Al, she’s like, the leader, right?” Claire laughed, letting her phone drop into her hand.

“Okay, okay,” Claire said.

“No, really!” Cassie said. “You’re already thinking bigger about what this necklace means. So you’re like the leader...I’m kind of the hotheaded spaz, which, I’ll totally try not to be, I promise--”

“As like a superhero team?” Alison asked. Cassie nodded.

“Exactly!”

“Yeah, Claire’s the level-head, for sure,” Alison said. “What does that make me?”

“You’re the funny one,” Cassie responded. Alison picked up a cushion and was about to throw it at her, but she held back.

“Nah, you know what? I’ll take it,” Alison chucked the cushion back on the couch. “You’re right. I was goofing around with the thing when Claire was already talking about the bigger picture stuff. Claire--you are the leader.”

Cassie smirked as her eyes darted to the cushion next to Alison, which picked itself up and swung playfully at her.

“Hey!” Alison said, trying to catch the thing. It dodged around her and swung from behind, hitting her in the side.

“That’s for even thinking about it!” Cassie laughed, making the thing prod and poke at her as she tried grabbing it. Just then, Claire’s ringer went off.

“Hey, hold up, hold up--” She told the girls. Cassie’s magically-charged cushion relented as Claire answered her phone. “Taylor, what’s up?”

“Honey, I know you opened today but I need a huge favor--Robyn has to go right at 8PM and I was hoping you’d just close up shop for me?” The voice on the other end of the phone buzzed.

“Yeah, yeah--no problem,” Claire said, looking at her phone. It was 6:30PM. “Tay, is everything okay?”

“No biggie, hon. Lily got injured at Soccer practice. I have to go pick her up.”

“Oh god...is she okay?” Claire asked.

“She’s fine--the school’s sports med whatever checked her out. They just asked me to come and get her.”

“Okay, good. I’ll be over as soon as I can,” Claire said. Taylor thanked her, and Claire hung up the call, letting her phone dangle in midair afterward.

“What’s up?” Alison asked.

“Lilly got hurt at soccer. Nothing major,” Claire said. “She just wants me to close up shop for her.” Alison and Cassie exchanged glances. 

“You want me to come with?” Alison asked. Claire thought about it. The necklace situation was only a couple days old, and Robyn had to leave right at closing time, leaving Claire to do drawers and lock up. Did she really want to close up the store alone?

“If you wouldn’t mind,” Claire said. “You’re good if I leave you here, right?” Cassie nodded.

“Oh yeah. Way more than good,” Cassie said, calling her can of soda to her lips with her thoughts.

“Behave with that...okay?” Claire got another vigorous nod from her sister. “I want to just grab something upstairs, Alison.” Claire sighed. “Would you please...warn Cassie about the, um...other thing?” Alison’s eyes went wide.

“What other thing?” Alison asked.

“A thing that I might not want to talk about with my younger sister? A thing you readily discovered?” Claire bounded up the stairs before Alison could answer.

“Oh, the...thing. Yeah.” Alison gritted her teeth and hissed a little. Cassie made a face at her.

“What is she on about?” Cassie asked.

“Okay, so…” Alison took a deep breath. “This is a little embarrassing, but it’s my fault, so it makes sense that I have to share the knowledge.” She let out an awkward laugh. “I am NOT assuming anything about your habits here, Cass, but like...I am who I am, so I’ll just put it out there. I, uh...don’t judge me, okay?” Cassie sneered, 

“Wooow. Spit it out,” Cassie said.

“I used this power on something to, um...like...play with myself. That way,” Alison admitted, her face turning red. Cassie’s face started at shock, but gave way to thoughtful consideration.

“Oh...wow. I mean, now I could see how that might be--”

“Listen,” Alison stopped her. “I would recommend...not...getting carried away like that. At least not until we know more. If you do--don’t wear the necklace when you do it. And don’t let...like, your fluids...touch anything you manipulate.” Alison clinched her jaw at having to say it, and Cassie laughed.

“Wait--you’re serious?” She asked. Alison locked eyes with her and nodded. “Well, what... happens, exactly?” Claire headed back toward the staircase.

“It’s...a lot to explain,” Alison said. “Just...trust me, okay? It’s--” Claire made her way down. “We just need to know more about it before we do anything crazy.”

“You ready?” Claire asked, grabbing her purse.

“Yeah, sure,” Alison said.

“Cass, let me see that for a second?” Claire said, pointing to the necklace. Cassie nodded and took it off, handing it to her. Claire clasped it around her neck and closed her eyes. “Thanks. Keep it safe, okay?” Claire undid the clasp just as quickly and tossed it back to her.

“That’s all?” Cassie asked. “What did you just do?”

“Made it so I could manipulate a few things,” Claire said. “Did Alison explain the, uh, sit-u-a-tion to you?” Cassie sneered.

“Uh, yeah. I got it.”

“Excellent. Be good. We won’t be too late.” Claire headed for the door. “Remember what I said, Cassie. Get good with it--get comfortable using it. But anything seems weird--text or call. Don’t hesitate.” Cassie nodded.

“I got you, Claire. I’ll be good.” Cassie smiled. “And thanks, again. For trusting me. With...I mean, everything.”

“You’re going back to school next semester,” Claire said. We all make mistakes. Just...bear your responsibilities in mind, right? Especially these new ones,” Claire said, pointing to the necklace. Cassie nodded. “Later, Cass.”

As soon as Cassie heard the door shut, she put the necklace back on. When all of this started, she hadn’t considered the...more lascivious possibilities the necklace represented. It was...magic. It seemed as pure as naivety, a belief in a force that wasn’t evident in the day-to-day world. There was a levity that came with experiencing it--not just wielding it, but even in seeing her sister and Alison use it.

But now Alison put something else in her head. Something else entirely. Cassie had already made plans to ‘destress’ after the whole school ordeal--the toy waiting on her nightstand was evidence of that. But after seeing magic, real magic at work, she’d pretty much forgotten about it. The levity and wonder that came with everything that Claire and Alison showed her had melted most of her stress away.

Alison wasn’t really specific on what would happen. Now Cassie was curious. Don’t wear the necklace when you do it… Don’t let your fluids--Cassie laughed recalling Alison’s expression saying it--touch anything you manipulate. 

“Why would she even tell me that?” Cassie asked. Claire prompted Alison to discuss it...Alison admitted she did it...but what exactly happened? Cassie took a quick look upstairs at the guest bedroom, which seemed undisturbed. Did Claire have to come to her rescue at her place?

Cassie looked around at Claire’s room--which was...cleaner than she’d ever seen it. Claire wasn’t really messy anyway, but this seemed one-hundred percent. There was nothing out of place.

Cassie commanded Claire’s closet doors open, and the closet was just as perfect. Not only was everything shelved, sorted, and folded perfectly--but her shoes were arranged from white to black, then across the ROYGBIV arrangement of the visible spectrum.

OCD as her sister might be, Cassie realized that there was no way that Claire did all of this by hand. Cassie snooped further, nudging Claire's drawers open one-by-one with her thoughts. Everything was organized with the same insane detail. Cassie commanded everything shut again, even mentally calling for everything to go back to how she found it in case she’d accidentally misplaced anything by looking. She headed back to the guest bedroom again, scrutinizing the details this time.

Linens in the closet folder perfectly. Not a mote of dust. Clean baseboards.

“Jeez, you guys.” The more Cassie noticed, the more she realized how much Claire and Alison had done with the necklace--and all in just the 48 hours they’d had it.

Don’t wear the necklace when you do it, Alison warned. Cassie huffed. 

“We just need to know more about it before we do anything crazy,” She said aloud now, echoing Alison’s words as she came to the top of the stairs. She stopped on the landing, looking down at her socks and the purple yoga pants she’d put on when she came back from her aborted nap. “Crazy like what, Alison?” She wondered aloud. Crazier than hovering down the stairs?

Cassie took a step back from the landing. Floating on a cushion was one thing, but having her clothes carry her?

She kept her gaze fixed on her lower half as she thought the command out. Make me hover like I’m sitting on a soft invisible chair. She sucked in air as she felt her socks shift under her, lifting from the soles of her feet. She thought she felt herself losing her balance, but as her purple yoga pants forced her knees to bend, she felt something under her thighs. Pressure on the back of her calves. Two more little gasps, and she was suspended there--in the position she imagined. She shifted her butt against her clothes, and while the front was still loose, the back clung to her, distributing her weight over the fabric and holding her in the air.

Lift me higher, she thought, wanting to test every parameter once more before carrying herself out over the jagged staircase. Again, the intention worked like clock gears, the impossible physics of the moment bound to her very will. As she hung there, steady as she could be, she shifted her weight and crossed her legs over one another.

The clothes made no sign of failing to carry her. She could still feel the pull from the pants on her right leg, now crossed over her left. Just like the cushion earlier, the forms didn’t tend to obstruct her actions. They simply shifted their actions as necessary to carry out whatever intention was impressed upon them--in this case, Cassie’s near-effortless freedom from gravity’s pull.

Well then...let’s float downstairs.

Cassie bobbed forward, floating down the stairs like a dandelion seed. Halfway down, she found herself giggling, savoring every second of her flight. She shifted her intention to take her all the way into the kitchen. At the bottom of the stairs, her path shifted her over the living room furniture, straight through to the next room.

She smirked a little, and the refrigerator door opened. A carton of orange juice floated out, and Cassie checked the date. Claire was routine as always. Maybe not so routine as to mark the levels in the liquor stash, though…

Cassie’s intentions opened a couple of cupboards, one producing a glass and the other revealing a half-dozen liquor bottles, clinking together until the vodka was liberated. Cassie watched the freezer door open, and a string of six ice cubes hovered out, gracefully making their way along a curved invisible track and into the waiting glass. The orange juice and vodka opened at the same time, pouring at a ratio that would seem a little generous by a barkeep’s standards.

The giddy feeling built up in Cassie as she called over one of the sugar cookies Alison had made earlier when she was showing off the necklace’s capacity for multitasking. Cassie didn’t even bother touching it--she let it hover in space as she took bites out of it, giggling to herself as the ice cubes in her drink dutifully spun in the glass, mixing her screwdriver properly as it approached.

Cassie checked the clock. 7PM. She’d spent longer than she thought scrutinizing the rooms upstairs and considering Alison’s odd warnings. If the shop closed at 8, Claire and Alison wouldn’t be any earlier than 8:30...and that was if they rushed. Cassie had at least an hour and a half to investigate this little mystery for herself.

“I do have to be a little quick about this, though...if I wanna feel any effect and have it wear off by the time they're back. Bottoms up!” She said aloud, grabbing the glass. She stayed hovering, sitting up as she guzzled the drink. “Woo! Now wash up,” Cassie said to the empty glass. It trailed away from her toward the sink, and her intentions shifted elsewhere, spinning her body toward the basement staircase as she considered what she’d do next.

Her room was the messiest one in the house now. With everything she knew about the necklace’s ‘fire and forget’ nature, she wondered if she could have it clean itself while she engaged in more recreational activities.

“Pack my pipe and let’s have a good bowl. I don’t need to hide with the one-hitter right now,” Cassie echoed in the staircase. When she got into her room, the magic had already taken effect, and she watched the semi-illicit plant bud breaking itself up right inside the baggie as a clump of it drifted into her waiting glass pipe. She willed her body toward her bed and then thought about it.

She wasn’t tired. There weren’t any nose bleeds, headaches, or anything other obvious symptomatic trope that always went along with this sort of thing. The necklace seemed to be a little more luminous--she noticed that--but on looking at herself in her full-length mirror, bright, alert eyes, lips curling in a giddy smile, Cassie was convinced she didn’t have anything to worry about.

“I mean, she said get good with it, right?” She asked aloud. Why sit down when she could float?

Cassie’s closet doors opened up, and she tried something a little more implicit than a specific action. She wanted her room to be as clean and organized as Claire’s was. She thought about the elements of that intention, of course--memories of the perfect folds and color-coding in the closet and the drawers came to her mind--but she wanted to avoid micro-management of the process to see how well a single, top-down direction would work.

In the meantime, her pipe was waiting for her--the lighter hovering next to it.

“Mmm...and down the rabbit hole we go,” Cassie said, willing the pipe to her lips and letting the lighter strike itself. She pulled smoke from it, wondering what Claire would’ve said if she found Cassie smoking pot, drinking, and using the weird magical necklace all at once.

Well...if she could handle it slightly toasted--that would be a good sign, right? Cassie’s drink began to hit her now--just as the big hit on her glass did. When her underwear drawer opened and the contents began sorting themselves, she was reminded of something she pulled from it earlier.

The vibrator. It was still on her nightstand. There was the tiniest jolt between her legs--something anticipatory--as it lifted off the stand and buzzed to life at her mental suggestion.

We need to know more about it before we do anything crazy, she thought, recalling Alison’s inspecific warning one more time. She looked down at the necklace and willed the jewel up and away from her chest so that she could get a better look at it. Was it actually brighter than a few seconds ago?

She glanced at the pipe, which met her lips again as the lighter struck it once more. This time she’d taken a deep breath beforehand and let it all out--priming herself for an even bigger pull this time. She took to smoking pot before she engaged in the more creative spectrum of activities at school. She wasn’t sure about the cliche that it made people better at them--that was silly--but it did make her less self-conscious. More willing to go with the flow and not worry about her own abilities. For what she had planned, she didn’t think that was such a bad idea.

Hangers shuffled through her closet as if an invisible multi-armed maid was busy at work--reordering everything by color and style, just as she intended. Cassie slowly exhaled, uncrossing her legs and wondering if it was possible to levitate herself without any clothes at all.

Her humming vibrator hovered down toward her yoga pants, just barely touching against her crotch.

* * *

“Hear me out, Claire. Let’s say someone was after this thing,” Alison said, shuffling through the changing room return rack. “Right now, one of us could disappear, and we wouldn’t really have much of a chance coordinating or defending ourselves. This necklace...it has tremendous amounts of power, like you said. I think we need to get people into the circle.”

Claire was fidgeting with her phone, trying to consider things. Right now it was only her, Alison, and Cassie. Al was right. They couldn’t put up much of a fight at the moment. Claire had a canister of mace in her purse now--and she was tied to it through the necklace--but that wouldn’t be close to enough if a serious threat were to present itself.

“Claire?”

“You’re right. You’re right. And Sunny...is pretty smart.” Claire used to be best friends with her before their little incident. But that was over a year ago now--and as far as she knew, the source of the falling out was out of both of their lives. Probably the catalyst in playing them against each other, since she heard he cheated on Sunny. She tried to stay out of the loop. She didn’t really hold a grudge at this point, but she also didn’t know how to start that relationship again. “But she probably doesn’t even want to see me, Al. What should I tell her?” Claire held her phone to her face. “HEY BABE! I know we haven’t talked since you stole a douchebag guy from me, but I have this magical necklace…”

“Actually, I’ve been talking to her--” Claire made a face at Alison. “Not about the necklace! About you two and this stupid fight that doesn’t even have any bearing anymore. Nate was a douchebag. He was with Sunny for a couple months before he just ran off with someone else.” Alison sighed. “You two were friends since high school.”

“Well, if you really think so--I’m not going to stop you,” Claire said. “I’m happy to talk to her to see what’s up. From there, maybe we can bring her into the fold.”

Alison looked at her phone. All she was waiting for was Claire’s blessing, and now she had it. There was a text from Sunny from just a couple minutes ago, asking if she’d spoken to Claire yet.

“Tonight,” Alison said. Claire shifted her weight.

“Al, seriously?”

“Why not?” Alison said. “Just talk with her, Claire. We need a support system now. Let me invite her to the house. She’d probably love to see Cassie, too.” Claire’s expression dropped, and she relented with a nod. Cassie had been in love with Sunny when Claire and her were best friends in school, and the reunion could help solidify both the circle Alison was talking about building, not to mention Cassie’s own stability. “Alright, tell her to come to the house tonight. But I take the lead on the necklace. Got it?” Alison nodded.

“For sure, for sure.” Alison began texting back.

Meet us at the house! We have to close up but Cassie’s home in case u beat us 

Alison got Sunny’s reply almost immediately.

Cass is home? I’ll txt her! When u gonna be done?

Alison guessed 8:30, which meant they’d be home fifteen minutes later. She let Sunny know, and told Claire the same. Alison beamed when she saw Claire smiling. With everything that happened as a result of this necklace, she couldn’t wait until she had the right opportunity to come clean with Claire about the apparent permanence of her powers. The more time passed--the harder she found it to hide outside of Claire’s house. She had to focus more than once on commanding tasks at work NOT to perform themselves--and keep herself from planning to do things.

* * *

Elise had been waiting all day to get her new toys home. She had to hide the rest of Sunny’s enchanted outfit away, but she kept the gloves out, playing with them carefully and having them do little tasks here and there until her co-worker came and took over to handle the 7-close. She even allowed them to massage her shoulders on her way home, figuring her tinted windows were enough to obscure them to any onlookers in the day’s fading light.

Once she was inside her apartment, she didn’t hesitate.

“Bueno, arriba!” The plastic bag she carried inside shuffled, and Sunny’s skirt rose out of it. The pantyhose were next, rising out of the bag, followed by the t-shirt. Sunny’s red t-shirt bra came next, and her boots stepped out of the plastic bag last. The left one kicked the bag off of its heel.

She really wanted to figure out the nature of what kept these things aloft, though she didn’t want to try certain things around Sunny...like what she was about to do with the t-shirt.

“You’re showing a little pezón there, aren’t you honey? ¿Estás caliente?” Sunny told her that the form was based on an expectation more than anything--so when Elise pictured the things filling up with a body--like Sunny had done with the gloves earlier...maybe the fact that she knew the bra was hovering next to it established some intention of a tight t-shirt on a woman’s body. 

Elise walked up to the hovering tee and pinched the nipples, giggling as she did. “Mmm...estas caliente. Eres usa chica traviesa.” Elise grabbed the hollow tits with ferocity now, knowing there was nothing inside to bruise and no one to offend. She manipulated them, pushing them together and bouncing them up and down. The shirt itself didn’t so much as flinch...until Elise put it in her mind that it should. “Chica--act like a real woman. Act like you’re in love with me and you’re delighted to have those tetas played with.” As soon as Elise said it, the sleeves of the tee stretched backward and the shirt’s chest pushed out, displaying the round forms more prominently. Elise gritted her teeth and licked her lips as she palmed the chest again, playing with the ghostly nipples with her thumbs.

The shirt pushed back--pressing itself against her palms harder and shimmying itself back and forth against her grip. “Hinchas esas tetas, cariño...bigger. Make ‘em bigger.” Sunny’s shirt stretched across its chest, and Elise began to imagine the kinds of things she could do with this ability if she had that necklace.

Elise laughed, playing with the exaggerated tits. The emulated nipples beneath the fabric hardened, and her curiosity only grew. As she stuck one of her hands up the shirt and pressed against the tits from the inside, the shirt simply conformed to her hand, but when she released the fabric, it stayed wrapped around a form that clearly wasn’t there.

Elise turned to Sunny’s pantyhose, beckoning them over.

“Under the camiseta--like you both belong to the same body,” Elise said. The pantyhose stepped under the tee--whose hem draped over the dark hose. “Hmmm...sedoso…” Elise said, running her hands over the filled out thighs and grabbing the lace-scalloped ass of the hose. She looked over at the bra and the plaid skirt, hovering in wait. 

“How about you two match up?” Elise said. “And maybe let’s get a beat going. Eres tan bueno escuchando a mamasita...so let’s see if you can dance, hmm? A little Bachata?” Elise spun to get her phone off of the coffee table, connecting it up with her speaker and playing one of her favorites. Sunny’s enchanted shirt took to her flirtations so well with nothing more than a suggestion that she figured on dance being an easy request.

“¡Bailen, bailen!” Elise shouted, turning the volume up. Sunny’s clothes didn’t even need to follow Elise’s lead--it was like her own rhythm was already in them. This power of expectation was starting to seep into her imagination, and she was ecstatic that Sunny came up with the idea to let her borrow the whole outfit. The skirt and bra swayed and turned, spinning up the plaid hem, and the footwork of the lovely scalloped stockings matched Elise’s own advances as she came back to the outfit and placed her hand on it, pacing around it until she realized something was missing.

“Guantes! Vengan aqui.” The only enchanted items left behind burst out of Elise’s purse. The black satin elbow-length gloves filled out at a moment’s notice and went to join up with the t-shirt, coordinating to land themselves just past the ends of the sleeves. Elise continued her dance, playing along the voluptuous shirt as she did another circle around it, reaching out for the empty hand of the glove to catch her as she threw her weight back.

The empty glove had no problem holding her and pulling her back to the outfit’s center of gravity. Elise continued, fluttering as she swayed in the grip of the very capable outfit. The enchanted items took the lead role, and Elise flowed with them, catching glances of the bra and skirt dancing to the same rhythm. Even the lone pair of boots followed along with ghostly footwork. The more Elise danced, the more enchanted she was by the situation. It didn’t take her long to trust the empty clothes, allowing her body to be gripped and spun and led by a partner who wasn’t there.

They didn’t second-guess themselves. They didn’t step on her toes or lose the rhythm of the music. They were exactly as good as she expected them to be--and before long, she found herself willing the outfit to make bolder and more gravity defying moves--ones even the strongest human partner couldn’t do. The satin gloves swung her just over the floor a couple times, hinged on elastic limbs that could pull away from the outfit and retract at will.

One time, when they pulled Elise back, she could feel a scalloped nylon leg pressing between her own legs--pushing against her in just the right way to remind her that a bold emulated body and a pair of shiny, soft, and highly agile hands was all that consisted of the dance partner. It was a dance partner that wouldn’t second-guess itself...that had no shame and no judgement.

Elise broke away from the outfit, going for her phone again. She turned down her music and shifted to something softer and slower. Something a little more sensual.

“Mmm...llevemos la diversión a mi cuarto, hmm?” Elise asked as her ghostly partner dipped her. She wanted to really see what these gloves could do. If the perfect dancing was any indicator… “Llevame. Are you strong enough to do that?” Elise gasped as the gloves scooped under her. Being elbow length, the shafts were only so long--so she found her body squeezed against the busty t-shirt as she was lifted off the ground and gently carried toward her bedroom.

She mentally called the other enchanted clothes to follow behind. If they could read her intentions--these gloves were about to do things to her that she couldn’t explain to even the most receptive lover.

* * *

In the basement, Cassie was writhing on a hovering bedspread--her yoga pants pulled to her ankles and wrapped tightly around them. Her panties were pulled to the side, held out by her telekinetic control over them as her buzzing vibrator alternated between shallow, teasing dips and deeper penetrations, arcing itself back on the latter to hit just the right spot.

The necklace was glowing enough that she could see the red tint refracting on her ceiling. It rested on her chest, covered only by a black bra--which she’d decided to keep on once she realized what soft, microfiber caresses could do to her excited nipples.

Her phone hovered in front of her, recording the impossible scene. On her desk, her laptop drilled furiously on its keyboard, recording her every thought in a flowing stream of consciousness. If Claire wanted to learn more about this thing--Cassie was going to do everything she could to achieve that--but it wasn’t going to happen by taking Alison’s advice.

From the moment she even considered the sensual possibilities the necklace presented, there was some hum in her head--some impulse that she couldn’t help but explore. Once the vibrator first hit her clit with her yoga pants still on, it was like a revelation. She didn’t know how to explain it, but it was like she was somehow more aware of the necklace’s properties--its understanding of her will. She wasn’t sure how it could be more powerful--already, multiple things acted on complex commands without hesitation--but something about the sexual charge localized the feeling of that control...as if the necklace’s abilities were soaking into her.

That’s when she started recording. She wanted to watch this again--her first time letting loose with magic--with real magic flowing through her. Binding her own ankles with her yoga pants was just the beginning. From there, she had her t-shirt pull off of her torso and just up to her wrists--creating the same effect. It was a delicious paradox--she pulled her skinny, athletic limbs against the clothes binding her, but the command in her mind held firm: do not let me slip out of these bonds. Their strength was drawn from her mind--and that intention was hard as steel.

The vibrator acted on its own as soon as her focus led to other things. She didn’t have to verbalize it--even in thought. The toy just knew what her pussy wanted--where and how she wanted to feel it inside her. How hard. How deep. When her bed began trembling, she thought she might’ve been starting to lose control--until she commanded her bedspread to lift her body away from the spring box and plush fabric beneath her.

By the time she willed her laptop to start recording any linguistic-based thought she had, her room was already ordered and organized like Claire’s, just as she asked. She had to start coming up with things to use the power on.

She moaned louder as every hinged door in the house started opening and closing on its own. She laughed through her own sounds of pleasure--savoring her control over reality as she challenged the necklace’s capacity.

Her dresser and vanity drawers began opening and slamming. A steamer trunk at the foot of her bed did the same. Cassie’s breathing went faster and faster as she cried out now--turned on by the power coursing through her. It was...almost like the necklace wanted to be used. Wanted to fulfill her will.

“Yes...yes...yes...oh, fucking god, don’t break anything. Don’t break anything,” She laughed, listening to the rhythmic chaos of opening and closing happening all over the house now. Every hinged door bolted to a frame--except of course the ones leading outside. The cupboards in the kitchen. Books on her desk. Every stick of her furniture. She was almost ready to come.

“Higher...higher…” She moaned, making the bedspread carry her until she was pressing her palms against the ceiling--her wrists still bound. “Fuuuckk--don’t BREAK my shit...but I...I want it to float. Hover. Hover. Hover!”

And it was so. Her dresser, her vanity, the makeup and lamps on it, her bedframe, her nightstands, her desk and her laptop…

“OH FUCKING GOD, PLLLLEASE DON’T LET THIS SHIT FALL, BECAUSE I’M--I’M…”

Cassie screamed as she thrust her hips, pushing them against the ceiling and letting her bonds loose all at once. The necklace was a fiery red now, making the space between the ceiling and the bedspread glow like a heat lamp. Cassie backed the vibrator out of her, letting her cunt echo nothing but the orgasm cascading through her. She willed the bedspread down as she panted--looking around the room to see everything--literally everything suspended in place...bobbing ever so slightly with the vibration of her focus.

“Fuck...fuck…” She giggled, looking at her open bedroom door. All the clamoring and noise-making ceased with her climax, and the energy running through her made her think that nothing could ever top it. “Oh, fucking thank you,” She laughed, grasping the necklace as her bedspread drifted down to touch her hovering mattress. “Thank you.” She took a deep breath. “Let’s uh…let’s put everything down...nicely. Okay?” She smiled. “That was...oh my god, that was fucking incredible.” She commanded her phone to stop recording, and it stopped, its screen flashing off as it dropped onto her bedspread. She picked up her toy as everything around her room began settling, grinning at it. “And I liked this thing before, but...holy fuck.” She tossed it into the air, letting it carry itself back to her underwear drawer.

Something felt different. She sat up on her bed after it touched down, looking at the jewel dangling from the necklace again. The glow quickly dissipated. She was still recovering from her fun, and it had already returned to its deep ruby-red color.

She was about to unclasp the thing to look at it, realizing her computer was still typing.

“Okay, okay--” she said. “I’m good.” She willed the long text document to save and close out, and her laptop screen closed itself once it was finished. There was going to be plenty to go over here...but right now she needed to square herself and make sure everything was good before Claire and Al came back.

Her phone buzzed. She nodded, and it hovered up to her, the screen coming back on.

Heard ur at home hon. u doing okay?

“Sunny?!” Cassie was so excited that she plucked the thing out of the air and began swiping.

OMG I’m actually great! how are u

Cassie looked to her closet, and her slippers leapt out, landing in front of her as she swiped. Before she slid into them, a pair of satin sleep pants drifted out of the same closet, ballooning out as she extended her legs. Sunny texted back.

Good. actually talked to your sister. meeting there when she’s done with work. mind if I get there early?

She hadn’t seen Sunny since before she went off to school--having lunch with her over the summer when she and Claire weren’t speaking to each other. Cassie’s sleep pants slid halfway up her legs, and she put her feet in her slippers and stood up, letting them slide on the rest of the way.

Come over! I’ll be here

Cassie willed herself back into a floating position, mentally tugging at a dresser drawer and calling out a spaghetti strap top. She made it fill out with air, extending her arms up so that it could drape over her. Just then, she felt her panties shift over her and bunch up. She gasped and put her hand at her crotch, pulling them away. Sunny texted again.

b there soon

Cassie smiled, letting herself drift out of her room and up the stairs. After not talking about her for so long, it was interesting that Claire had decided to meet up with Sunny. Cassie looked down at the necklace, wondering if it had any bearing on the situation...and wondering if she should hide it when Sunny got there.

As Cassie drifted through the kitchen, touching down again and walking on her two feet, she willed the front door unlocked. She unclasped the necklace and caught it in her hand, trying to determine where she’d place it.

Downstairs--her bedspread rippled on its own, and something in her underwear drawer was rattling around--looking for a way out.